the awkward, lovely, crazy truth of falling in love

Mabel Williker is a talented ghostwriter. She’s known for getting people to share things that they usually don’t talk about. She stays true to her NDAs, not letting on about her work for the famous and influential. So when she’s asked to do a memoir for a well-known English soccer star, she seems like the perfect choice. She can disarm him with her cheery attitude and cupcakes, the colorful dresses she wears over her curves and her whimsical accessories.

But she just may have met her match in Alfie Harding.

Alfie is known for being surly. He gets into fistfights and dates models and doesn’t do well with the press. And as soon as Mabel walked her sunny, cheerful self into her editor’s office with home-baked treats, she took one look at Alfie’s glowering and knew she had made a mistake. The cupcakes were definitely not going to help. But she has signed a contract, and she was going to do what she could to get this book done.

But then things got weird. She was having lunch with her editor, and she noticed one of the large ferns moving. When she looked closer, she could see Alfie hiding behind it, or doing his best, because a man of his size can’t really hide behind a fern. And then she went to Starbucks, and Alfie was there. He just stared at her while she tried to work, and Mabel could not figure out why. And when she first went to his house to get started on the memoir, he said strange and awkward things. Mabel knew he would be resistant to the project, but she had no idea how much. However, she figured out that when she teased him, just a little, she could get through to him.

She had a way in.

And then the paparazzi caught them together. And when they were asking Alfie about it later, when they were saying rude things about Mabel, he punched one reporter and headbutted another.

Mabel didn’t know about any of that until the next morning, when her phone was flooded with texts and calls. That was when she found out Alfie had punched a reporter because of her. But then he’d gone on to make it so much worse. He’d said something too. He’d told the reporters that she was the love of his life.

Mabel didn’t know what to say to that. Alfie told her that he hadn’t meant to say it, it just slipped out. So they talked about it and decided that the best way to get them out of the situation is to pretend to date for a while and then break up. No one would be the wiser.

But what Mabel didn’t expect was that pretend dating Alfie could turn into genuine feelings for him. Or that it could generate a thousand watts of heat between them. And when it did, she didn’t know what to do about it. She was there to do a job, but how could she be expected to write about his experiences as a footballer or dating glamorous actresses while ignoring the fact that she was very much falling in love with Alfie Harding?

When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a rom com with lots of heat, flirting, and some dirty talk. But it’s also a story about two damaged and awkward people who can’t have a relationship with someone else because the stories they tell themselves are too damaging to get past. It’s laugh-out-loud funny while also being self-conscious, sweet, and respectful. It’s a rom com written by someone who loves rom coms and isn’t afraid to play with the tropes we’ve seen in all those great Sandra Bullock movies (she’s my favorite actress too).

I was thrilled when I started reading this book. I was sold by the title alone, but when I found out in was about a retired footballer, I was so much more in (yes, I am a soccer nerd). If you’re a Ted Lasso fan. you will find Alfie giving off strong Roy Kent vibes (another reason to love this book), but Mabel is unique to herself. I was disappointed reading the book, as it was told from Mabel’s point of view, with random bits of social media or articles mixed in at the end of each chapter. I thought it needed more of Alfie’s voice. But the ending came, and Alfie’s voice is made loud and clear, and all was forgiven. When Grumpy Met Sunshine is a charming story about how the lies we tell ourselves can be the most damaging, and how to stand up to the voices that put up down and hold us back, whether those voices are outside of us, on social media, or in our own heads.

Egalleys for When Grumpy Met Sunshine were provided by St. Martin’s Griffin through NetGalley, with many thanks.